


Chasing Sunsets

by arieswrites



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: F/F, Friends to Lovers, an attempt at humor, basically my fav tropes in a trench coat pretending to be a story, pretty much fluff, road trip fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-15
Updated: 2020-03-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:53:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23155105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arieswrites/pseuds/arieswrites
Summary: The Bellas go on a roadtrip and Beca discovers that life isn't always as hard as it seems.
Relationships: Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell
Comments: 16
Kudos: 39





	1. Take it Easy

**Author's Note:**

> Hey. I posted a version of this to fanfiction.net a few years ago and then gave up on it. Now I wanna write it again, but I wanna post here, so... here we are. It's edited because I go to school for writing and actually know a couple things now. Anyway, thanks, love u, stay hydrated.

_Well I'm running down the road trying to loosen  
My load, got a world of trouble on my mind  
Lookin' for a lover who won't blow my  
Cover, she's so hard to find_

All Beca had ever really wanted was to live in peace, alone with her music and thoughts, but life was a tricky thing and dreams are ever-changing. The circumstances we are thrust into or choose to wrap ourselves in have wide-reaching effects; something Beca hadn’t considered all those months ago when she auditioned for a goofy singing group because a pretty girl, with the voice of an angel and eyes to match, asked her to. If someone had told her back then that she would grow to love everything about that silly singing group - the mouth noises and the bickering and cheesey choreography – Beca would have laughed in their face. And if someone had told her that the biggest reason why she loved the Bellas so much was because she had found a family in those girls, well, Beca might not have ever auditioned at all.

But that was the old Beca. The old Beca preferred to be lonely with herself rather than be left alone by people she cared about. The old Beca thought a sweet boy making her laugh meant that they were supposed to fall in love. The old Beca wanted nothing more than to run off to L.A. and make a whole new life for herself. And the new Beca still yearned for L.A., but she wanted to bring her old life with her. Well, she wanted to bring parts of it anyway… Parts with wild, red hair and the most expressive blue eyes she had ever seen. Parts with annoying, prodding fingers poking into her ribs, trying to wake her up. And, wow, that was really starting to hurt.

Beca groaned and rolled over, trying to escape the incessant needling coming from her best friend. And she knew it was Chloe because who else would voluntarily try to wake her up? Beca was _not_ pleasant in the morning. Chloe wasn’t giving up though. Her needling shifted to shoving and then to shaking.

“Becs, come on, wake _up_!”

“Go ‘way Chlo, ‘m sleeping,” Beca grumbled, her voice groggy from sleep and muffled through the blanket she had pulled over her head; the blanket that Cloe was now attempting to wrestle from her.

“Up, up, up! A Bellas meeting was called twenty minutes ago, which means we're already a half hour late by Aubrey’s standards!”

Beca whined, burying herself further into her pillow, while simultaneously cocooning herself in the cover Chloe had been trying to pull away. “That doesn’t even make sense and school's over in three days. No more meetings.”

Chloe huffed, hands on her hips and a mischievous glint in her eye. Beca, still trying to become one with her bed couldn’t see Chloe and was therefore wholly surprised when 130 pounds of absolute dead weight collapsed on top of her, all boney knees and warm skin.

“Jesus Chloe, how many elbows do you have!? They’re everywhere.” They seriously were. How could someone be poking every single sensitive spot on her body simultaneously? Beca could feel the blanket being pulled down from her face and huffed, finally opening her eyes enough to glare at the angelic elbow monster she called her best friend.

Chloe simply smiled back down at her, because of course she was happy right now. She loved the mornings (and it _was_ the morning according to Beca even if her clock read 1:30 p.m.) and she loved annoying Beca. This was probably akin to a second Christmas for her. “Please get up. Aubrey's already texted me twelve times since she called the meeting and I think she might have an aneurism if we don’t show up in the next ten minutes. Also, good morning, sunshine. Or, well, good afternoon, I guess. You’re, like, a really late sleeper.”

“Thanks, I’m going for a record. Now go away so I can continue with my task.” Beca knew that that was never going to happen now that Chloe had gotten her to open her eyes. The girl was like a damn dog with a bone. A really sweet dog that somehow always smelled like flowers.

“Beca Mitchell, you will get out of this bed right now or, so help me Madonna, I _will_ come back with a bucket of ice water,” Chloe said. She was glaring and her voice was low, but there was something in her eyes – always the eyes – that told Beca Chloe was mostly kidding. Mostly. There was a small chance that, under the right circumstances, Chloe would absolutely pour a bucket of water on Beca to get her out of bed. The circumstances so far didn’t make that seem likely, but Beca decided to give in anyway because she really didn’t want to deal with Aubrey scolding her today. It had nothing to do with how she always ended up giving into Chloe’s wants and demands because she loved making the other girl happy. It had nothing to do with that at all.

“Ugh, fine, you win.” Beca said, rolling her eyes. Chloe beamed, rolled off her, and began rifling through Beca’s drawers.

“You have, like, no clean clothes. You’re really gonna regret not doing laundry sooner,” Chloe said, picking out Beca’s clothes – something she had been doing more and more the last few weeks.

“And why’s that?” Beca asked. She grabbed the clothes from Chloe and motioned for her to turn around, still not fully comfortable changing in front of her.

Chloe shook her head good-naturedly at Beca’s shyness but turned anyway. “You’ll find out at the meeting.”

“Ugh, you know I hate surprises.”

“Well, you’ll just have to power through it anyway because Aubrey will kill me if I tell you and you end up skipping the meeting.”

“Fine, whatever. You can turn around now.”

Chloe turned, smiling softly when her eyes found Beca again. It was a special smile she didn’t see very often from her friend and it always made her stomach flip. It was just so… _gentle_.

“I really like that shirt on you.” Beca crinkled her entire face in confusion. The shirt in question was four years old and had had so many holes she had to cut it into one of those sideless shirts. “Anyway,” Chloe continued, snapping out of whatever she had been thinking about. “Let’s go. Bree’s probably planning where she’ll bury our bodies right now.”

***

They made it to the meeting ten minutes later, Beca nursing the biggest cup of cafeteria coffee she could get her hands on, only to be greeted by a very huffy Aubrey glaring at them. If looks could kill… Well, honestly, Beca would have died the first day they met. The other girls didn’t look especially thrilled either.

“Nice of you two to join us. We’ve only been waiting an hour,” Aubrey snipped. Beca knew that despite how much Aubrey had loosened up over the last few months, she was still tightly wound and was easily stressed. She actually felt kind of bad for contributing to that stress.

“It’s actually only been, like, twenty very annoying minutes,” Cynthia Rose said, no doubt trying to relieve Chloe and Beca of some guilt. “I just figured you guys were… _distracted_.” She continued, winking at the two. Beca rolled her eyes but couldn’t fight the blush that always bloomed whenever one of the girls made a comment like that.

“Hot,” Stacie added.

“Aw, guys stop, look how embarrassed you’re making them.” Beca gave Jessica a small, grateful smile as she moved to take a seat – in the back where no one could see her.

“Sorry,” Chloe said to the group, blowing past the comments with an ease that Beca envied. “You know how hard it is to wake Becs sometimes.” She stood next to Aubrey and waited for her to officially begin the meeting.

Aubrey had her eyes closed and was obviously doing some breathing exercise to try and remain calm. After a few tense moments she nodded and opened her eyes, seeming to be mostly back to her normal level of intensity which was still at ulcer-inducing levels. “Right. Well, now that we’re all here, Chloe and I have something to tell you.”

“Wait, are _you two_ dating?”

“Are you guys staying another year?”

“Um, Aubrey’s straight. I can always tell.”

“Are the Bellas being disbanded?”

“Jesus Christ Lilly, why would you ask about their livers?”

“Girls! Girls, stop guessing!” Aubrey yelled, trying to be heard over the chaos. “I swear to the Aca-gods, you will all be running laps around the campus until your feet bleed if you don’t listen to me!”

Well, that worked.

“Jeez, Bree…” Chloe murmured, nudging Aubrey, and the other girl immediately started to deflate. Beca was forever in awe of how easily Chloe could almost always center Aubrey with just a few words or a touch. The girl was a fucking magician. Or a witch. A good witch. Like Glinda. Beca temporarily got lost in her thoughts, imagining Chloe floating around in bubbles and granting wishes. Honestly, it didn’t seem that far-fetched. She was brought back to the real world when Aubrey spoke again.

“Right. Sorry. Just… listen, girls. Chloe and I have been talking recently about how much we’re going to miss you all and how we’re really not ready to say goodbye when we’ve barely had time to bond.” Beca made a face at that since she held the opinion that they had bonded nearly too much for her liking, but then she glanced at Chloe who looked so excited for whatever was coming next that she felt herself smiling already. And, then at Aubrey’s next words, that smile quickly fell. “So, we’ve planned a roadtrip!”

 _Seriously_!? Immediately, the room erupted into more chatter and questions and varying levels of groans or squeals.

“When is it?”

“How long will we be gone?”

“Just… what? Who’s paying for this? I’m not paying for this.” Beca got an eye roll from Chloe for that comment.

“Can we go to Florida? I wanna see how their crocs stack up to the ones we have back home.”

“Beca’s got a good point. How are we going to afford this?”

“Ew, I’m definitely not going to Florida. They eat people’s faces there.”

“Then where _are_ we going?”

At this point, Aubrey looked like she was ten seconds from either murdering every single one of them or having a mental break down and Beca found herself feeling sorry again. This whole thing was clearly a huge stressor for their captain and, despite what she wanted people to think, Beca wasn’t heartless and Aubrey… was sort of her friend now. So, she grabbed a chair and slammed it against the floor a few times, breaking through the noise.

“Hey! Shut up! Do you seriously think Aubrey hasn’t planned literally every part of this out already? Let her speak, assholes.” Beca got a few raised eyebrows and couple comments about _her_ defending _Aubrey_ , but she ignored them.

Aubrey gave Beca a small smile, but Chloe was the one to speak. “Mine and Aubrey’s parents are paying for the trip as a graduation present, so we don’t need to worry about money. We haven’t really worked out the timing perfectly yet because we want some of your input, but it’ll probably be close to two weeks. And, we have a lot of spots to visit, but we’re definitely making L.A. the destination.”

The more Chloe spoke, the more excited the group became until it felt like the whole room was buzzing by the time she finished. Even Beca had perked up at the mention of L.A..

“Whoa, so this is actually going to be a thing? We’re really doing this?” Ashley asked.

Aubrey nodded, appearing more secure now that the news was out. “We are. Well, we are if you girls agree. Should we vote?”

Beca’s eyebrows shot up at that. “Wait, did Aubrey Posen, feared aca-dictator who rules with an iron fist just suggest a vote?” Her tone was sarcastic, as usual, but there was also a playful undertone she hoped Aubrey would pick up on. She so didn’t want to start a fight today.

Luckily Aubrey rolled her eyes, smiling a bit more. “Well, I considered kidnapping all of you the morning of the trip, but that felt like too much work, even for me.”

There were a few chuckles at that, mostly confused over this new, freer Aubrey. Sure, the girl had started to chill out but joking at her own expense? That was new. Beca was ecstatic.

“Well, I’m in,” she declared, surprising even herself at being the first to vote yes on spending two weeks trapped in a confined space with nine other girls. Chloe beamed at her though, hands grasped together in that adorable way that made her look like a kid gifted with a new puppy, so Beca couldn’t bring herself to be annoyed with her own enthusiasm. She just really wanted to visit L.A., okay?

“Me too,” Stacie said. “I could use the L.A. sun.”

“Yeah, I’m in,” added Cynthia Rose

And soon all the girls had agreed and that obviously led to an ecstatic squeal-fest, complete with hugging all around. It was disgusting and Beca had to remind herself several times that she wasn’t enjoying it. It was almost working until Chloe hugged her, throwing her into a cloud of warmth and flowers, and Beca couldn’t lie to herself much longer after that. She was excited. Ugh, what had happened to her?

The next couple hours of Beca’s day was spent in that same room as the girls debated on what stops they wanted to make. A lot of the options had been nixed because they were too far out of the way or were too obscure, like the Museum of Murder Lilly had suggested. They had agreed to stop at Jackson, Dallas, El Paso, and Phoenix, but a few girls were also making a (very bad) case on why they should also stop at Las Vegas.

“Most of you aren’t even old enough to legally drink, so why would you want to go? It makes no sense! And it’s three hours out of way.” Aubrey had a map, a globe ( _where the fuck did she even get that_?), and google maps out. The girl was playing to win.

“Because it’s _Vegas_. Just imagine it,” Stacie said, her eyes wide thinking of all the possibilities.

In Aubrey’s defense, she seemed to actually consider it, but she ended up looking more constipated than excited. “It sounds honestly and truly awful.”

“The lights, the theatrics, the drinking!” Amy sing-songed, doing extravagant hand motions as she listed things out. Stacie pointed to Amy as if the other girl had made groundbreaking points, nodding her head in agreeance.

“The hobos, the drugs, the likeliness that at least three of you will end up married!” Aubrey mocked back, earning herself an actual laugh from Beca.

“She’s got a point,” Beca said, shrugging.

Cynthia Rose looked at her like she had grown two extra heads. “Girl, what has happened to you?” She then turned to Aubrey and tried to compromise. “Look, how about we decide once we’re almost there. If we make good time or we have to leave somewhere early, we’ll do Vegas?”

Aubrey pursed her lips and huffed. “Fine. I’ll think about it.”

Most of the girls cheered like they had already won and, frankly, Beca kind of felt like they had. All they had to do was wait until they got close enough to the city and “accidentally” make a wrong turn. It would be too easy, but Beca wasn’t going to tell them that. Vegas honestly sounded horrible, as did most of their stops. Dallas? Really? Chloe had made a great point about being able to crash at her uncle’s house, but still. It was in Texas. And so was El Paso for shit’s sake! She was going to get so sunburned. Still, though, Beca couldn’t help but feel cautiously excited. There was a slight chance she had become a softie. _Disgusting_.

***

About five hours later, Beca's mood had done a full 360. There had been so much planning and prepping to do already when all she had to do was pack up her stuff to be shipped back home, but now the added stress of also packing for the trip was killing her. She hadn't done any laundry in weeks, wanting to wait until she got home to do it. Money wasn’t too much of an issue, but laziness sure as fuck was. Then there was figuring out how she was going to get the stuff she wasn’t bringing on the trip back home. And, to top it all off, Beca's brain had suddenly decided that it was time to Freak. Out. Thoughts of flat tires, fights, car crashes, and seedy hotels with murderous owners had consumed her mind, getting more bizarre and unreasonable with every passing moment. It wasn’t until her mind conjured up the image of evil horses trampling her down in bumfuck Texas that she deemed the whole line of thinking as irrational and tried to ignore her anxiety. Beca knew she was being crazy – she still had her wits about her – but she still couldn’t shake her nerves.

She was sitting on her bed, legs bouncing and bottom lip trapped between her teeth when Chloe breezed in, completely unannounced as usual but wholly welcome, especially since Kimmy Jin wasn’t there to make some snide remark.

“Hey, Becs, how’s the packing going?” Chloe asked. She plopped down next to Beca and knocked their shoulders together, smiling. It helped calm Beca a little and she had a feeling that that was her friend's intention. She could always tell when Beca was getting stuck in her own head.

“Um, great. As you can see, I’ve already finished, and everything is going perfectly,” Beca snarked, waving a hand around her room which had been thrown into disarray. She wasn’t sure she actually still had a floor at this point. She hadn’t seen it in more than three hours.

“Well, at least there’s nowhere to go from here but up.” Chloe said, trying to lighten Beca’s spirits. She had a point. “And your drawers are all empty, so that’s… progress.”

Beca chuckled, shaking her head. “Seriously, Chlo, I don’t think I’ll be ready in time. All of my moving out work has just been doubled.”

“Well, it’s a good thing you have a beautiful, talented, loving, helpful friend here to lend a hand.”

“Oh, is Cynthia Rose here?” Beca teased, glancing around her room.

“Oh, shut up!”

“Really though. I can’t ask you to do that. Don’t you have to pack too? Or plan for the trip?”

“Oh, please,” Chloe scoffed. “I’ve been packed for days and Aubrey won’t even let me _breathe_ on her precious notebook timetable thing. She has it covered. Now, let’s start with your laundry because, no offense, it smells like my brother’s room in here.”

Beca felt her cheeks heat up with embarrassment like they always did when Chloe caught her in a less-than-stellar state. It happened far too often for her liking.

And so, Chloe helped Beca like she’s always did and Beca only complained about it for the first ten minutes like she always did.

They worked together for hours and by the time they were ready to call it a night, it was past midnight, so Chloe decided to stay over. It was normal. The next morning, when Beca woke with Chloe in her arms, that was normal too. Even the fluttering in her chest was an occurrence so common, she didn’t even think about it anymore. Something had shifted though. The air felt different and the sun was warmer, and Beca suddenly realized something she should have known a long time ago.

_Take it easy, take it easy_   
_Don't let the sound of your own_   
_Wheels make you crazy_


	2. My House

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, I can't look at this anymore or I'll never post it. BTW, I caught a couple typos in the last chapter after posting it and immediately wanted to rip my eyes out, so if anyone wants to beta hmu. (Just to catch the tiny stuff I'm blind to. I can edit on my own.)

_Who needs a house up on a hill_

_When you can have one on four wheels_

_And take it anywhere the wind might blow_

_You don't ever have to mow the yard_

_Just hang a map and throw a dart_

_And pray to God the engine starts and go_

Three days later the girls, sans Chloe and Denise, were all gathered, ready to leave. Denise had a last minute family thing, so she had to skip the trip and Chloe was just plain late. They were meant to have left at 6 a.m., but 6 came and went and now it was pushing 7:30. Beca, who had pulled an all-nighter just to make sure she was up in time, was more than a little miffed. Chloe, _of all people_ , still wasn’t there. She had texted the group to let them know that she was running behind due to “an unexpected surprise” but told them nothing else. It was nerve-wracking not knowing if something bad had happened. Beca had stepped away from the rest of the Bellas and was now practically vibrating. She told herself that it was due to the chilly morning. She had no explanation for the knots in her stomach and the way she kept snapping the hair tie around her wrist.

At least she was distracted from thinking about a certain revelation that she’d had a few days prior. _That_ could wait until later or, more preferably, it could wait forever. Beca was so wrapped up in her music, anxiety, and ignoring multiple lines of thinking that she didn’t notice the large, lumbering dog running at her until it had her pinned to the ground, licking her face.

_Oh, god this is how I die!_ Beca screamed internally, and possibly externally as well. She didn’t know. _God,_ she was so tired maybe she was hallucinating all of this.

Instead of mauling her though, the dog simply barked in her face and then bounded over to the other girls, most of them cheering and showering it with far too much attention.

“Oh, no, don’t mind me guys, I’m fine. I didn’t almost get eaten by that thing,” Beca called out. She started to push herself up to her feet when she saw a hand stick out to help her. Beca, of course, ignored it. She didn’t need their pity.

“All right, fine, grumpy butt.”

Oh. Chloe. Beautiful, amazing, sweet Chloe. No, wait, she was supposed to be in a bad mood. Awful, annoying, late Chloe who just let a rabid dog nearly kill her.

Beca glared at her, crossing her arms. “And exactly where have you been, Miss we-can’t-be-late-or-Aubrey-will-kill-us?”

Chloe pouted and Beca had to turn her head so she wouldn’t be immediately sucked in by it like some kind of lovesick fool. “Aw, don’t be mad. I was trying to find somewhere for Dusty to stay,” Chloe said, motioning at the dog.

Beca had about ten more questions than she did before, most of them having to do with that awful name, but before she could ask any of them, Aubrey’s voice rang out, as shrill and as tense as the sun was bright – and it was near blinding today.

“Chloe, what the hell is this? I hope you don’t plan on bringing Dusty with us because I am _not_ living on a minibus with a dog!”

“Well…” Chloe at least had the decency to look a little guilty. “Look, Bree, my brother just dumped him on me. He said he won’t keep him anymore and there’s no one else to take him.”

Beca frowned at that. What kind of person would just abandon an animal? He couldn’t wait two weeks? Beca’s opinion of Chloe’s brother had never been good because Chloe avoiding talking about him to the point that Beca didn’t even know his name. Beca figured he must be, like, a murderer or something. Now she thought even less of him.

“He can’t come with us,” Aubrey stated plainly. She looked like she was gearing up for an argument, all crossed arms and set jaw. Beca, despite already hating the fluffy monstrosity Chloe called a pet, knew she had to fix this as soon as possible. God, all she wanted was to get on the bus and nap, but no. She had to be “a good friend” and help resolve conflict or whatever. Stupid maturity. Stupid Chloe with her stupid dog. Neither of them were cute right now. They were both nuisances at best.

“Here’s a thought,” Beca started. “Why don’t we put it to a vote?” Easy win since half of the girls looked like they were ready to sneak the damn dog on the bus if they had to. Aubrey looked around, met all of their eyes, and sighed.

“Fine.” Oh. Well, that was easier than expected. Maybe Aubrey really was learning to be a team player. Huh. Beca was kind of proud of her. It was a strange feeling, though not wholly unpleasant.

Chloe cheered, bouncing in place. “Okay! Who votes for Dusty to come with us on the trip?” she asked, giving the group the most intense pout Beca had ever seen.

God, she would give Chloe anything to make her happy in that moment. A new car? Absolutely. Beca’s first born child? Say no more! A pony? Well, that was pushing it, but Beca would make it happen. So, to the surprise of exactly no one, she was the first to raise her hand. She hadn’t even meant to raise it. She was going to vote against the dog just to annoy Chloe, but it was as if her body couldn’t resist giving in to the girl. Stupid love. _Love that is definitely platonic_ , Beca reminded herself. God, she felt delirious. She needed sleep. At least most of the other girls raised their hands too. She could just say she was going with what the group wanted and steadfastly ignored the fact that she was the first to raise her hand.

“This is ridiculous, I can’t believe we’re bringing a dog on this trip. Chloe, I swear I’m not scheduling extra stops, so he better be more well-trained than the last time I saw him,” Aubrey warned, eyeing Dusty with contempt, distrust, and… anxiety? Beca definitely wanted to know what _that_ was about, but it could wait. She needed her damn nap.

While the rest of the Bellas encircled their new traveling companion, arguing over god knows what ( _hopefully what to rename the poor dog_ ), Beca climbed onto the bus and collapsed into the first seat she saw, hoping she could fall asleep before the circus climbed on board.

“Beca!” No such luck. Chloe was squealing with untempered excitement, shaking Beca back to consciousness. That coupled with the stampede of Bellas charging into the bus cemented the fact that Beca wouldn’t be taking her nap just yet. “You can’t sleep yet; we haven’t even left! And I haven’t seen you all day! Didn’t you miss me?”

Beca scoffed and rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t help feeling the happiness wash over her. She _had_ missed her. “All day? It’s not even eight in the morning, you lunatic.”

“Exactly,” Aubrey interrupted. “Which means we’re almost two hours late. Chloe, sit down please.” She then turned more fully to the rest of the bus, clapping her hands loudly to grab their attention. “Girls, please quiet down and take your seats. We’re already late thanks to your irresponsible co-captain, so we really need to get going if you all still want to make it to Vegas.”

Beca knew the Vegas thing was bullshit, but Aubrey always knew how to get her way and within the blink of an eye, all of the girls were seated and buckled in. Even Dusty sat down. Beca eyed him suspiciously. She didn’t trust him already. Chloe giggled beside her and Beca turned to her, eyebrows raised in question.

“You keep looking at him like he ate your shoes.”

“Yeah, well, there’s no harm in preparing for the inevitable. I can see it in his eyes. He’s wants to destroy. I’d feel the same if someone named me Dusty.”

Chloe laughed harder, her hand finding purchase on Beca’s arm, making Beca’s heart nearly stop and then triple its speed. And, wow, when did _that_ start happening?

“You’re so weird, Beca. He’s a good boy, I promise. And I didn’t pick the name. You can blame my brother for that. It grows on you though.”

Oh, so the brother was to blame? Just another reason to dislike him. “You know what else grows on you? Cancer. And moles... and cancerous moles.” She let herself grin when Chloe laughed again. What a beautiful thing. 

***

Beca was awoken some time later by the sounds of bickering.

“-no way we’re stopping _again_!”

“We’ve stopped three times and we’re still in freaking Alabama.”

“Right mate, I’ll just pee in the bottle then!”

“I think we should stop too. I’m kind of hungry.”

“Oh my god, Amy, pull your pants back up!”

Beca glanced over at Chloe who had her face in her hands, shaking with either tears or laughter and Aubrey was so tense, her hands gripping the steering wheel were sinewy and stark white. Not a great sign. Beca decided now wasn’t the time to wake up. She put her earbuds in and went back to sleep.

***

The next time Beca woke up, it was just past noon. Dusty had somehow managed to fit his entire body on her lap which had started to make her legs go numb. She pushed him off, ignoring the indignant “hey!” she received from Chloe, and, upon noticing that the bus was stopped, got up to stretch. 

“Where are we?” Beca asked.

“Nebraska.”

“A diner.”

“On a bus.”

“O…kay. Chloe,” Beca turned to the girl in question. “Where are we?”

Chloe had been staring at Jessica, trying to figure out if her geography was really that bad, but directed her attention back to Beca. “We’re in Jackson.”

“Specifically, we’re in the Frondren district of Jackson, Mississippi,” Aubrey corrected as the girls descended the bus. Beca stumbled down the stairs and, once she got a better look around, almost gasped. She didn’t though. Beca was too cool to gasp.

_Whoa._ It was like stepping on to a movie set. Not only was the diner 50’s inspired, but it seemed like half of the buildings around them had been perfectly preserved for nearly 70 years. There was a movie theater, a burger place, and a bowling all within eyesight. They were all 50s inspired. Beca could even hear blues music playing somewhere down the street. It was kind of freaking amazing.

“Huh. Cool,” Beca muttered.

“ _Cool_? That’s all you have to say? Beca, this place is amazing!” Chloe beamed, eyes dancing around the diner and other buildings. Beca shrugged. Chloe was right of course, but Beca didn’t have the energy to get all that excited. She was still tired. And _ravenous_. She felt like she hadn’t eaten in days.

“ _The Help_ actually had a few scenes filmed here. The grocery store is supposed to be almost the exact same as it was in the movie,” Stacie stated casually, walking past them into the diner.

_How does she even know that_? Whatever. Beca didn’t care. She needed food.

***

After their meal (where they had to sneak Dusty into the outdoor seating area), a bit of sightseeing (Dusty leading them the whole way), and way too many photos for Beca to be comfortable with (all with Dusty in them), the group got back on the bus and started off for Dallas. 

About two hours in, an argument broke out between Cynthia Rose and Stacie. Beca missed most of it due to having her headphones on at a deafening level, but she did catch the last sentence from Stacie.

“God, just because all you see is a dumb, hot blonde, that doesn’t mean that’s all she is! Paris Hilton deserves more respect!” With that, Stacie stormed to the front of the buss and dropped down next to Aubrey who could only manage to stare at the girl next to her, bewildered. Beca could seriously relate.

_What the fuck?_ Even Lilly, who was taking a turn at driving, glanced at Stacie in confusion. Or maybe it was bloodlust. It was hard to tell with Lilly.

Aubrey quickly collected herself, whispered something to Stacie, and then was cast stricken as Stacie laid her head on her shoulder. Aubrey blushed, caught Beca watching, and turned away scowling.

_What. The. Fuck._ God, she must be having a stroke. That was the only explanation for the sequence of events Beca _thought_ she had just witnessed.

“What the hell was all of that?” Chloe whispered, not wanting to get the attention of the other girls who seemed to be discussing the merits, or lack thereof, of Paris Hilton _still_.

“Don’t ask me. She’s your freak, not mine.”

“Which one?”

“Which one do you think, dingus?”

Chloe giggled. “Dingus? Really?”

“Whatever,” Beca said in lieu of an actual response and put her headphones back on. Chloe, being a pest as usual, unplugged the headphones and replaced them with her earbuds. She kept one and gave the other to Beca, smiling at her teasingly. _Annoying. Not cute. Very Annoying._

***

The group made it to Chloe’s uncle’s house sometime close to eleven at night, several hours later than they were meant to. Most of the girls had assumed he actually lived in Dallas, but Chloe drove past Dallas altogether and, soon after, they arrived in a town called Waxahachie.

“Oh, we’re in the _country_ country,” Cynthia Rose muttered, seeming to be unhappy at that fact. Beca understood completely. This was how horror movies started. What if Chloe had been playing the long-con for four years just to get this moment where she could lure a group of unsuspecting victims into the arms of a serial killer cannibal?

Wow. Okay. Clearly, the Texas heat was getting to Beca. _Chill out, Freak_.

“Calm down, guys,” Chloe said to the group as if she could see the tension in many of their faces even though she couldn’t se any of them. She probably could feel it. The girl was magic. A witch. A witch trying to sacrifice them in Middle of Nowhere, Texas.

Beca’s paranoid delusions were refusing to abate.

“I know it seems like we’re in the boonies, but I promise this town is mostly full of suburbs. They’re totally normal, just like us,” Chloe continued. Her words seemed to have an effect on a few of the girls. Shifting eyes settled and shaking legs stilled. Beca was endlessly impressed by Chloe’s ability to emotionally control potentially disastrous situations.

Soon, the tree line faded and all they could see was empty land and a couple buildings growing larger. The bus came to a stop and the girls stumbled off, Amy, Ashley, and Lilly tripping over each other in their sleep-deprived haste and all three ending up with their faces in the dirt. Dusty trampled over them and ran straight to the middle-aged couple who had just stepped out the front door.

“Uncle Luke! Aunt Claire!” Chloe yelled, her energy unaffected by the late hour. She ran to the couple and hugged them both in turn. Beca eyed the couple over. They were cute. They looked like they belonged in a 3-star romantic comedy. Beca could tell they were above average in looks despite the low lighting but couldn’t make out much else. Luke was broad and tall, but not oppressively so and Claire was close to Chloe’s size. 

“These are my friends!” Chloe then waved her arm towards the girls as if she were presenting a prize on _Wheel of Fortune_. Chloe made a point of introducing all of them individually. Beca was a little thrown by that. She had never seen Chloe behave with such manners before. It was kind of charming…

“Right, well, pleased to make your acquaintances. Let’s head inside before the mosquitoes eat y’all up,” Luke said. “Chloe, your room is ready, and we have a couple air mattresses, a loveseat, and a pull-out couch for your friends. It should be enough, so y’all can figure out the sleeping arrangements amongst yourselves. I recommend y’all go ahead and hit the hay ‘cause we got an early day tomorrow. Goodnight.”

Luke and Claire then headed up the stairs, leaving the girls to crash where they pleased. It was bold to leave a gaggle of weirdo college girls alone in their living room. Beca could respect that.

“Hey, come on. Let’s go to bed.” Chloe beckoned Beca to follow and lead the way to her bedroom, Dusty just a few paces behind.

The room was… simple. Not like Chloe’s dorm room at all. Her dorm was neatly cluttered and colorful to a barely tolerable level. This room was almost the antithesis of that. It held on a couple photos and no other personal touches. Even the white walls seemed incorrect. Beca wouldn’t have imagined any room of Chloe’s looking like this. _Why did Chloe have a room here at all?_ Beca considered all of this as she changed in the closet and, upon getting into bed, she decided to just ask about it.

“Hey, can I ask you something?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Why do you have a room here? And why is it so… not you?” Beca cringed at her inability to articulate her thoughts. Stupid anxiety.

“Um… Well, it’s kind of a long story. Plus, it’s sorta sad and I don’t really wanna be sad right now.” Chloe was mumbling, eyes not meeting Beca’s. It had to be serious if Chloe didn’t want to talk about it. She never wanted to talk about serious issues in her life. Beca nodded, mindlessly petting Dusty who was somehow laying on both of them simultaneously.

“Oh, yeah, I get that. I’m basically president of the angst club. No need to elaborate further.”

“I just… I lived here one summer. There were… issues at home.” Chloe’s words came out slow and stilted. Beca felt like an asshole for bringing the subject up in the first place.

“Family sucks, dude.” _Ugh, really?_ Beca could not be worse at this. She was opening her mouth to say something equally as useless, but then Chloe giggled – soft and relieved – so Beca decided to let it go. At least she managed to make Chloe smile again.

“Goodnight, Becs.”

“Night, Chloe.”

_It don't matter where we go_

_We'll never be alone_

_Anywhere besides you, is a place that I'll call home_


End file.
